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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Lundqvist fined $5,000

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was fined $5,000 tonight by the NHL for unsportsmanlike conduct at 20:00 of the second period in the Rangers’ 3-1 win in Sunday night’s Game 6.

No specific incident was mentioned but the only thing Lundqvist was seen doing as Dominic Moore and Penguins Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby were in the middle of a scrum was skate by Crosby and soak his uniform by squirting a water bottle at him.

The Rangers, and particularly Moore, were upset with Crosby getting his stick blade in Moore’s groin region but no other supplemental discipline has been announced.

For those unhappy that Lundqvist was fined $5,000 for this and the Bruins’ Shawn Thornton only $2820.52 for squirting the visor of the Canadiens’ P.K. Subban, remember these fines are salary calculated and Thornton received the maximum fine allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Lundqvist did not.
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Stewart alluded to his feelings on Crosby’s leadership in a prior article about James Neal being a punk. I’m glad he expanded on it.

Can you imagine if Crosby took a guy like James Neal aside and said “Listen man, cut the crap. We’re a better team when you’re on the right side of the line.” Does a guy like Neal actually get it and change? Does he pretend to get it, and not change? Does he stare Crosby down and start laughing hysterically? Does he get mad and say “Look in the mirror, jackass” ?

Unfortunately for the folks in Pittsburgh, its too far gone in terms of team culture. They’re good enough to be perennial contenders, for sure. And they’ll win another Cup or two before Sid is done. But there’s no reigning that sideshow in without actually getting through to Crosby and then having to jettison some guys. They could’ve been a dynasty if he wasn’t thrust into the leadership role so early.

Then again, Toews was put in just as early, and look at the leader he became. I’ll chalk that up to natural leadership in JT, and a lackthereof in SC, I guess.

Posted by DaveB on 05/13 at 02:34 PM

You know that some people will squirt water on a dog fight to stun and break up the fight. So Hank was just trying to calm down that dog Crosby. It is hard to understand why Crosby is a poster child for the NHL when all he really is is just a child.

But the NHL is the true farce here. A guy gets a $5000 fine for squirting water while another guy jabs his stick into sumebody’s privates and goes totally unpunished. That’s like last night on some TV program when Elenore Clift said that our ambassador in Bengazi died from smoke inhalation and somebody responded with “That’s the stupidist thing I’ve ever heard. That’s like saying after a person was shot that he died of lead poisioning!” When will the NHL wake up? Tell me, NHL…squirting water in somebody’s face is “unsportsmanlike” while jabbing a stick into somebody’s b@lls isn’t? BTW, whatever happened to “intent to injure”?

Dubi was right when he called out Crosby a few years ago. He is just a punk, a spoiled brat that just whines constantly. We need to continue to press that button and get him skating around shaking his head.

Posted by rangerbill94 on 05/13 at 02:59 PM

where is the disciplinary action on Crosby for using his stick in an unsportsmanlike way?

Posted by bklynblue on 05/13 at 03:28 PM

So Hank gets a fine for $5,000 for squirting a bit of water on someone who gets fined nothing for a spear? Well that’s interesting.

Agree with the above - there’s a culture in Pittsburgh where they get involved with some of this mumbo jumbo that is unnecessary. Each of their four top forwards (Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz, Neal) all represent varying degrees of dirty play. Kunitz is ironically the most in your face about it but likely the cleanest player out of the 4 of them (so let’s say he could play for the Flyers ).

I’ll stop at preaching about it because if they’re doing these types of things it means they’re likely not winning the game. Let’s go Rangers!

Posted by Jason on 05/13 at 03:35 PM

Good point daveb

Rb94. Stewart did allude to the water bottle as bush league stuff. ... Funny it was though. And the nhl trying to crack down on shenanigans like that. If they punished stick work, the fines would be never ending and non stories as they would be too commonplace. And stick work has always been a part of the game. I don’t like that the punk Crosby did the stick work and then had somebody else fight his battle for him though

When Messier or Howe did the stick work you knew it would be him you’d be facing if you retaliated

Posted by Craig on 05/13 at 03:37 PM

Craig

My problem here is the NHL is trying to attract more viewers. So while stick work has always been part of the game, where is the consistancy if we want to play the “unsportsmanlike” card?

The issue is the NHL would rather have PITT mone on then the Rangers…more TV revenue with names like Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Kunitz and Flurry then names like Richards, Zuccarello, Stepan, Kreider and Nash.

Just look at the hoopla made of Kane’s goal, coming down the left wing, cutting to center ice, then cutting hard down the right wing and making a great backhand shot for a goal. MeGuire went orgasmic!! However, the next game he does and Zuccarello does the very same thing and his comment was “Flurry should have had that one!”

Posted by rangerbill94 on 05/13 at 04:05 PM

Like I said previously, I hope Hank squirts Crosby again. It’s worth every penny of the 5k and I’m betting 10k would sit well with him too.

Posted by CJ on 05/13 at 04:14 PM

I can understand the fines for the water stuff. But when there is intent to injur using a stick, the league Needs to suspend players. If you use your stick to target another players balls, you should miss a game or more. Period. RangerBill is correct that the league is a farce.

Tonight, they need to continue to play sid hard but not take penalties. You know they will be all amped up. can’t get carried away with it. I have to work and do not have the means to tape the game. Will have to listen on the radio.

Posted by Thewaitingisover! on 05/13 at 04:20 PM

More than once I alluded to Richards being a Capt Candidate. It was because he was stepping up (and speaking up) this year, spreading his past Cup winning experiences to the rest of the team this year. And he was doing so even before Cally left. (He woulda probably done that last year too.. until Torts benched him)It’s natural for a guy like Brad R. because he cares…
Now that St Louie is here, they are the two guys with rings and more importantly, the full Championship experience behind them. Did you here St Loo saying after the Game 6 win : “you have to picture it in your mind…” That guy is a real deal passionate person who is highly motivated.. We know he walked away from a starring role on the strong, first place Bolts w/ Stamkos and Co. He did so due to pride at being snubbed for Team Canada.. that became a divide that couldn’t be made right by Stevie Y… The Bolts GM shoulda been more selfish and got MSL named to Team Canada. But before that went down, MSL had taken a stand when Stamkos went out and he made sure that his team didn’t falter and, SOB, he pulled it off ... Bolts stayed strong right up until the return of world class player Stamkos… Richards and MSL both know they are not young anymore .. And I think both are excited to be with the NYR now, this year.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
CAPT thing Again!! .. FANS are way more impressed and interested about who gets that damn C then the players are.. when you have veteran guys around, who happen to be Cup winners and one happens to be a Conn Smythe winner, they get consideration for CAPT on the strength of their resume’. Granted it’s probably a given that Richards will be bought out. So he isout as a candidate…
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
while we’re on the subject of Capt’s ... Sather may have had more on his mind than adding St Looie’s scoring ability when he made the Capt for Capt trade.. at the same time, Glenn removed the BIG DISTRACTION re/ an unsigned Capt Cally that would have been the elephant in the room all during the playoff run.. Slats also knew that he could get more from both Richards and St Looee if they got together again…
COMING UP : Kevin Weekes predicts Rangers win tonight on NHL Network…
Weekes also said that he is in disbelief that some in cyber world say that Hank “hasn’t done a lot in his post seasons ...” A hopped up Weekes went on to repeat the stats Andrew put out there today re/ him being 9-2 in elimination games and his stellar record in Game 7’s ... Weekes then was asked, point blank, who he expects to win Game 7 tonight at Pitt and without hesitation he stated the Rangers.. he alluded to Hank again at that point… mentioning that he is doing great and is the ultimately focused guy in net right now ... Take note bloggers who have said that Hank “didn’t steal any games this year” or that because he didn’t get the W in a couple of tough games that MAF “Outplayed” him… We have a TOP guy in net ...

Posted by Ranger Rick on 05/13 at 04:25 PM

“Just look at the hoopla made of Kane’s goal, coming down the left wing, cutting to center ice, then cutting hard down the right wing and making a great backhand shot for a goal. MeGuire went orgasmic!! However, the next game he does and Zuccarello does the very same thing and his comment was “Flurry should have had that one!” “

So true! Pierre goes nuts for the obvious kids who have been on his (and everybody elses) radar since they were 14. He loves being able to tell you about how he’s been watching this guy since he was a pee wee, what junior team he played for, how the coach of said-junior team did a fantastic job, what completely-random-shoestring connection said guy has to a random defenseman on the other team from back in the prelims of the World Juniors ‘08, and basically HOW HE’S KNOWN IT ALL ALONG.
And there’s the obvious instruction from above to “treat the stars like stars.”

RR - People love to make a big deal out of Hank’s post-season record, and how pedestrian it is. Personally, I feel you can’t look solely at W-L in the playoffs. The Rangers have a habit of playing long series, so even when they move along, the guy is +1 in Win-Loss differential. Any player who goes to the postseason in every single season but has yet to go all the way is going to rack up losses. I love seeing his stellar record in Game 7s and elimination games. Much more telling.

Posted by DaveB on 05/13 at 04:36 PM

RR ... before the last 2 games you can’t say he “stole” us any games. You might not be able to even say that after these last 2 games, that said he’s played VERY well and certainly done his part. There will come a time though when the guys play like dog crap in front of him, he will need to steal a game for us somewhere.

Also, mason played damn well for Philly—- he kept them in games they had no right to be in. The thing about playoffs, the sample size is so small. After 5 games one guy can look like a world beater while the other is playing so so, after 10 games the situation can be totally flip flopped. Hank never looked “so-so”, but he’s had a number of games where he looked “good” not great. When you make top dollar, one is almost always expecting “great”—- I know it’s unfair, just comes with the territory ($$$).

Whatever happens tonight, there are players on this team that have nothing to be ashamed of ... and others who have to find a way to raise their game even more. I’m looking at you Nash and Stepan, it’s time to hit the back of the net, not the post.

About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.